One kilo anthrax could kill 123 000
2003-03-17 21:46
Washington - A bio-terrorist attack using one kilo of anthrax spores in a city of 10 million people would kill 123 000, even if every resident took antibiotics within 48 hours, according to a report out on Monday.
If residents already have the antibiotics or get them within hours of the attack, the number of fatalities would be cut in half, according to Lawrence Wein, the main author of the study.
The authors, from the universities of Stanford and Yale, as well as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, recommended preventive distribution of antibiotics and the deployment of mobile health units to distribute the medication in case of attack.
They noted that using equipment to detect bio-terrorist attacks would only marginally reduce casualties in case of an anthrax attack.
US measures insufficient
The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science considers measures currently taken by the US government to protect the population to be insufficient.
US authorities are too focused on detection equipment and not enough on making large quantities of medicine and medical personnel available in an affected area.
"There is still no substitute for getting people antibiotics and medical care as fast as possible," said Wein, pointing out that anthrax "can survive an explosion, which makes it ideal for weaponisation."